[R-G] El Salvador votes away its bad past

[Anthony Fenton]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/mar/18/el-salvador-election

El Salvador votes away its bad past

The left's electoral victory put an end to US meddling and proved that  
Salvadoran democracy is no regional threat
Comments (…)

     * Mark Weisbrot
     *
           o Mark Weisbrot
           o guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 18 March 2009 23.00 GMT

Last Sunday's election in El Salvador, in which the leftist FMLN  
(Farabundo Martí Front for National Liberation) won the presidency,  
didn't get a lot of attention in the international press. It's a  
relatively small country (7 million people on land the size of  
Massachusetts) and fairly poor (per capita income about half the  
regional average). And left governments have become the norm in Latin  
America: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and  
Venezuela have all elected left governments over the last decade.  
South America is now more independent of the United States than Europe  
is.

But the FMLN's victory in El Salvador has a special significance for  
this hemisphere.

Central America and the Caribbean have long been the United States'  
"back yard" more than anywhere else. The people of the region have  
paid a terrible price – in blood, poverty and underdevelopment – for  
their geographical and political proximity to the United States. The  
list of US interventions in the area would take up the rest of this  
column, stretching from the 19th century (Cuba, in 1898) to the 21st,  
with the overthrow of Haiti's democratically elected president Jean- 
Bertrand Aristide (for the second time) in 2004.

Those of us who can remember the 1980s can see President Ronald Reagan  
on television warning that "El Salvador is nearer to Texas than Texas  
is to Massachusetts" as he sent guns and money to the Salvadoran  
military and its affiliated death squads. Their tens of thousands of  
targets – for torture, terror and murder – were overwhelmingly  
civilians, including Catholic priests, nuns and the heroic archbishop  
Oscar Romero. It seems ridiculous now that Reagan could have convinced  
the US Congress that the people who won Sunday's election were not  
only a threat to our national security, but one that justified  
horrific atrocities. But he did. At the same time millions of  
Americans – including many church-based activists – joined a movement  
to stop US support for the terror, as well as what the United Nations  
later called genocide in Guatemala, along with the US-backed  
insurgency in Nicaragua (which was also a war against civilians).

Now we have come full circle. In 2007, Guatemalans elected a social  
democratic president for the first time since 1954, when the CIA  
intervened to overthrow the government. Last September, President  
Zelaya of Honduras – which served as a base for US military and  
paramilitary operations in the 1980s – joined with Bolivia's Evo  
Morales and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez when they expelled their US  
ambassadors. Zelaya defended their actions and postponed the  
accreditation of the US ambassador to Honduras, saying that "the world  
powers must treat us fairly and with respect". In 2006 Nicaraguans  
elected Daniel Ortega of the Sandinistas, the same president that  
Washington had spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to topple  
in the 1980s.

El Salvador's election was not only another step toward regional  
independence but a triumph of hope against fear, much as in the US  
presidential election of 2008. The ruling ARENA party, which was  
founded by right-wing death squad leader Roberto D'Aubuisson, made  
fear their brand: fear of another civil war, fear of bad relations  
with the United States, fear of a "communist dictatorship". Almost  
comically, they tried to make the election into a referendum on Hugo  
Chávez. (Venezuela kept its distance from the election, with no  
endorsements or statements other than its desire to have good  
relations with whomever won.)

ARENA was joined by Republican members of Congress from the United  
States, who tried to promote the idea that Salvadorans – about a  
quarter of whom live in the US – would face extraordinary problems  
with immigration and remittances if the FMLN won. Although these  
threats were completely without merit, the right's control over the  
media made them real for many Salvadorans. In the 2004 election the  
Bush administration joined this effort to intimidate Salvadoran  
voters, and it helped the right win.

The right's control over the media, its abuse of government in the  
elections and its vast funding advantage (there are no restrictions on  
foreign funding) led José Antonio de Gabriel, the deputy chief of the  
European Union's observer mission, to comment on "the absence of a  
level playing field". It's amazing that the FMLN was still able to  
win, and testimony to the high level of discipline, organisation and  
self-sacrifice that comes from having a leadership that has survived  
war and hell on earth.

This time around, the Obama administration, after receiving thousands  
of phone calls – thanks to the solidarity movement that stems from the  
1980s – issued a statement of neutrality on the Friday before the  
election. The administration appears divided on El Salvador as with  
the rest of Latin America's left: at least one of Obama's highest- 
level advisors on Latin America favoured the right-wing ruling party.  
But the statement of neutrality was a clear break from the Bush  
administration.

El Salvador's new president, Mauricio Funes – a popular former TV  
journalist – will face many challenges, especially on the economic  
front. The country exports 10% of its GDP to the United States, and  
receives another 18% in remittances from Salvadorans living there.  
Along with sizeable private investment flows, this makes El Salvador  
very vulnerable to the deep US recession. El Salvador has also adopted  
the US dollar as its national currency. This means that it cannot use  
exchange rate policy and is severely limited in monetary policy to  
counteract the recession. On top of this, it has recently signed an  
agreement with the International Monetary Fund that commits the  
government to not pursuing a fiscal stimulus for this year. And the  
FMLN will not have a majority in the Congress.

But the majority of Salvadorans, who are poor or near-poor, decided  
that the left would be more likely than the right to look out for them  
in hard times. That's a reasonable conclusion, and one that is shared  
by most of the hemisphere.

     * Print thisPrintable version
     * Send to a friendSend to a friend
     * Share thisShare
     * Clip thisClip
     * Contact usContact us
     * larger | smaller

Email
Close
Recipient's email address
Your first name
Your surname
Add a note (optional)

Your IP address will be logged
Share
Close

     * Digg
     * reddit
     * Google Bookmarks
     * Yahoo! My Web
     * del.icio.us
     * StumbleUpon
     * Newsvine
     * livejournal
     * Facebook
     * BlinkList

Contact us
Close

     * Report errors or inaccuracies: userhelp at guardian.co.uk
     * Letters for publication should be sent to: letters at guardian.co.uk

     * If you need help using the site: userhelp at guardian.co.uk
     * Call the main Guardian and Observer switchboard:
       +44 (0)20 7278 2332
     *
           o Advertising guide
           o License/buy our content

World news

     * United States ·
     * El Salvador ·
     * Venezuela ·
     * Bolivia ·
     * Obama administration ·
     * George Bush

More comment

Related
16 Mar 2009

Funes of El Salvador reassures opponents
26 Apr 2008

PLAN UK: Children hold back the slides
23 Aug 2007

1,400-year-old cassava crop solves riddle of the Maya
30 Jul 2003

Americas Ex-rebel in presidential challenge

     * Print thisPrintable version
     * Send to a friendSend to a friend
     * Share thisShare
     * Clip thisClip
     * Contact usContact us
     * Article historyArticle history

Email
Close
Recipient's email address
Your first name
Your surname
Add a note (optional)

Your IP address will be logged
Share
Close

     * Digg
     * reddit
     * Google Bookmarks
     * Yahoo! My Web
     * del.icio.us
     * StumbleUpon
     * Newsvine
     * livejournal
     * Facebook
     * BlinkList

Contact us
Close

     * Report errors or inaccuracies: userhelp at guardian.co.uk
     * Letters for publication should be sent to: letters at guardian.co.uk

     * If you need help using the site: userhelp at guardian.co.uk
     * Call the main Guardian and Observer switchboard:
       +44 (0)20 7278 2332
     *
           o Advertising guide
           o License/buy our content

About this article
Close
Mark Weisbrot: Sunday's elections changed El Salvador's history
This article was first published on guardian.co.uk at 23.00 GMT on  
Wednesday 18 March 2009. It was last updated at 23.00 GMT on Wednesday  
18 March 2009.
<A HREF="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/event.ng/Type=click&FlightID=103976&AdID=120121&TargetID=32241&Values=30,46,50,61,73,86,91,101,110,150,223,466,791,813,818,856,906,913,926,1178,1208,1335,1389,1454,1461,1576,1668,1680,1727,1750,1760,1808,1869,1925,1932,1949,2118,2157,2209,2212,2214,2467,2477,2512,2758,2759,2819,2844,3008,3028,3181,3182,3184,3262,3319,3348,3522,3756,3797,3831,3834,3877,3904,3950,3964,3983,3998,4334,4347,4372,4397,4531,4546,4691,4707,5062,5126,5405,5491,5517,5556,5774&Redirect=http://jobs.guardian.co.uk/?RAC-TrJOBbreAdTH&link=GuMPU 
" target="_top"><IMG SRC="http://adimage.guardian.co.uk/top_run_of_sites/2009january/guJanJobsBreadth_MPU_12Jan09.gif 
" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=250 BORDER=0></A>
Most viewed on guardian.co.uk

     * 24 hours
     * 7 days
     * Most talked about

24 hours

    1. 1. Marina Hyde: The Jade obituary issue just shows how deeply  
OK! cares
    2. 2. Football: Sir Alex Ferguson launches new attack on Rafael  
Benítez over big-spending claims
    3. 3. Police officers in abuse case accused of 60 other assaults
    4. 4. 'Do I feel sorry for Josef Fritzl? A small part of me does'
    5. 5. Charlie Brooker on new series Newswipe
    6. More top stories

7 days

    1. 1. Josef Fritzl's daughter's cellar hell: locked up for 24  
years; raped 3,000 times
    2. 2. Natasha Richardson's family gather at hospital as concern  
grows over condition
    3. 3. Nasa's James Hansen warns 'democratic process isn't working'  
in climate change fight
    4. 4. America cheers as satirist, Jon Stewart, delivers knockout  
blow to TV finance gurus
    5. 5. Natasha Richardson dies after skiing accident
    6. More top stories

Most talked about
<ol> {for blog_item in blogs} <li{if blog_item_index == (blogs.length  
- 1)} class="last" {elseif blog_item_index == 0} class="first" {/if}>  
<span class="rank">${parseInt(blog_item_index) + 1}.</span> <p> <a  
href="${blog_item.link.linkhref}"> ${blog_item.article.title} </a>  
<b><a href="http://technorati.com/search/${blog_item.link.linkhref}? 
partnerid=440">(${blog_item.linkcount}{if blog_item_index == 0}  
technorati links{/if})</a></b> </p> </li> {/for} </ol>

    1. 1.

       Nasa climate scientist: 'democratic process isn't working' to  
curb emissions (19 technorati links)
    2. 2.

       George Galloway banned from Canada (17)
    3. 3.

       Shell dumps wind, solar and hydro power in favour of biofuels  
(11)
    4. 4.

       Google launches Street View in UK (11)
    5. 5.

       News, previews, blogs and much more (9)

More

Today's rising blog posts from Technorati

       Bestsellers from the Guardian shop
     * Balanzza Digital Luggage Scales
       Balanzza Digital Luggage Scales

       Check your luggage at home and avoid excess baggage charge  
misery. Works with bags up to 44kg.

       From: £22.99
           o Visit the Guardian reader offers shop
           o Green & ethical shopping at Guardian ecostore

comment is free…
Latest posts

     *
       Mustafa Qadri
       2min ago
       Rough justice in Swat

       Mustafa Qadri: The growing influence of the Taliban in the  
North-West Frontier Province is a direct threat to Pakistan's fragile  
democracy
       Post your comment
     *
       Nushin Arbabzadah
       1hr 2min ago
       Remembering Afghanistan's first president

       Nushin Arbabzadah: The state funeral of Sardar Daud Khan was a  
reminder of his doomed brinkmanship with the Soviet Union
       1 comment

Free P&P at the Guardian bookshop

     *
       Spirit Level
           o Spirit Level
           o £20.00 with free UK delivery
     *
       Mother of God
           o Mother of God
           o £30.00 with free UK delivery

     * Browse the bestsellers lists
     * Buy books from the Guardian Bookshop

     *
       Sponsored features
     *
     *

Guardian Jobs

     * UK
     * USA

UK

Browse all jobs

     *
       Exhibition Sales Executives - Lifestyle Show

       dragonfly. exhibition sales executives - lifestyle show. £21000  
- £23000 per annum + Bonus.
     *
       Planning Enforcement Officer

       enforcement jobs. we are currently looking for planning  
enforcement…. £14.00 - £18.00ph.
     *
       Interim Senior Marketing Executive

       national railway museum-1. national railway museum, york.  
£23,500.

USA

Browse all jobs

     *
       Middle School Science Teacher

       and state board of education. takes all necessary and...  
certification 6. application section education education 7.  
application section references references 8... . ky.
     *
       Business Development Manager

       working with: telecom, financial, healthcare, industrial  
clients experience in marketing and selling: professional / it  
services java/j2ee... . nd.
     *
       College Recruiting-IT Networking Intern

       as an it networking intern, your primary responsibility will be  
to ensure the health and availability of progressive it systems. our  
unique rotational program... . oh.

Related information
World news

     * United States ·
     * El Salvador ·
     * Venezuela ·
     * Bolivia ·
     * Obama administration ·
     * George Bush

Bolivia Autonomy Referendum

Bolivia's referendum on indigenous rights

23 Jan 2009:

Bolivia holds referendum on empowerment for its indigenous majority of  
6 million people – but anti-Morales states seek autonomy, risking  
break-up of country
More galleries
29 Jan 2001

Flying visit places rescue project under scrutiny
18 Jan 2001

Salvadorean anger at post-quake aid delays
13 Oct 2000

Missing children haunt Salvador
25 Apr 2000

Testimone

A man prepares to receive fireballs during the Remembrance festival in  
Nejapa, El Salvador

All fired up at El Salvador festival

2 Sep 2008:

Men throw fireballs at each other during an event held to commemorate  
a 1922 volcano eruption near the town of Nejapa
More video

     * License/buy our content |
     * Privacy policy |
     * Terms & conditions |
     * Advertising guide |
     * Accessibility |
     * A-Z index |
     * Inside guardian.co.uk blog |
     * About guardian.co.uk |
     * Join our dating site today

     * guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2009